Sunday, 12 June 2011

It feels like we're going through the motions a bit today, with what appears to be another ground hog day in the merry-go-round of transfer stories with the same names being linked to the club but with different prices depending on which story you read.

We'll start with Samir Nasri who, according to the Sunday Mirror, Arsene Wenger is more confident of keeping hold of and tying down to a new deal. However, that deal could be scuppered by The People's claim that Nasri wants wages of £160,000 a week to sign a new deal. There is also a new club linked with the attacker's services in the Mail on Sunday who suggest Bayern Munich would be interested in Nasri.

However the Mirror's story says Wenger is less than certain he can retain the services of captain Cesc Fabregas, who Arsenal won't sell for less than their valuation. The Mail on Sunday say Barcelona will offer £30million for the Spaniard, plus either Thiago Alcantara or Bojan Krkic. Now, no one should be under the impression that the Spanish champions won't bid for Cesc this summer. There has been rumours doing the rounds in the last week that heavily suggest a deal is being worked on in Catalunya, with Cesc's agent Darren Dien involved with talks.

Will Arsenal sell him for that amount or want either of those two players? No. Yet another derisory offer will not be entertained by the club. And I think by the statement we released last summer, the club will not be bullied into making a sale.

What I really wish for is for Arsene Wenger to show our intent to improve on last season and sign some players before we get to a stage where players can accuse us of lacking ambition. It's certainly not good to stagnate and although I appreciate we're more likely to sell before we buy, signing players who will improve the depth of our squad whilst adding quality at the same time cannot be considered a bad move to keep members of our first team happy, and us fans as well!

There are more murmurings about a deal to bring Christopher Samba to the club, with The People saying a bid of £12million would clinch the defender's signature. Whilst the News of the World link us with a move for Birmingham's Scott Dann. According to the paper, Birmingham want £15million for the defender but might settle for £12millon.

The News of the World suggest that should we not get Dann, we'll turn our attention to Everton's Phil Jagielka.

Inter Milan are the latest club to be linked with a move for Nicklas Bendtner, according to Sky Sports.
Gervinho's name is another we have seen a lot of in the past week. The Sunday Express say we'll try and do a deal for the Ivorian for £12million but that Lille are prepared to wait and see what's the highest bid they can attract for him.

According to the Irish edition of the News of the World, Arsene Wenger is looking at signing Wolves striker Kevin Doyle in a £10milllion deal, offering the Irish international wages of £40,000 a week.

Scouts from Arsenal have been watching 19-year-old Swedish defender Alexander Milosevic according to the News of the World.

The Sunday Mirror also report Abou Diaby is to under-go ankle surgery and will miss the start of the season. Shame he didn't have the operation rather than play a part in three meaningless international matches for France... Then he might have had a chance to be fit for August 15.

And finally, the News of the World are running a two page interview with Alister Usmanov, which is headlined: "I don't want to be on the board of a trophyless club who rip of fans"

Isn't this the same Uzbek who wanted to meet with Stan Kroenke (a meeting the American refused to take) and moans he doesn't have a seat on the board despite owning 28 per cent? Usmanov's words might be what some fans want to hear but personally I'd rather he didn't have anything to do with the club. At this present time words are easy. It's the achievement of our goals which is the hardest part.